Preforming head for wire stranding machine



Oct. 29, 1957 .1. BALINT, SR 2,811,010

PREFORMING l'IEAD FOR WIRE STRANDING MACHINE Filed Dec. 29, 1954 his Attorney.

United States Patent PREFORMING HEAD FOR WIRE STRANDING MACHINE Joseph Balint, Sr., Yardville, N. J., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application December 29, 1954, Serial No. 478,344

Claims. (Cl. 57-9) This invention relates to improved quills for preforming heads used in wire stranding machines. As used herein the term stranding machine refers generically to a machine for twisting wires together to form a strand or for laying strands together to form a rope or cable.

In the manufacture of wire ropes or strands it is customary to form the individual components into helices before twisting them together. Commonly the stranding machine has a rotatable preforming head through which the components travel as they approach their point of twist. The usual types of preforming heads include a frustoconical tubular body which carries around its circumference either several series of staggered rollers or several quills. The core component passes through the bore, while each of the other components pass around one of the series of rollers or one of the quills. On rotation of the head, the components other than the core acquire a helical set which enables them to lie properly in the finished rope or strand and overcomes their tendency to untwist. Typical machines embodying this construction are shown, for example, in Conner Patent No. 1,781,894, dated November 18, 1930, Damon Patent No. 1,899,559, dated February 28, 1933, or Weller Patent No. 2,124,864, dated July 26, 1938.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved preforming quill which can be installed on conventional existing heads and is of simplified construction and yet facilitates introduction of the components to start operation of the machine.

A more specific object is to provide improved preforming quills which are formed of grooved tool steel blocks devoid of moving parts, said blocks being constructed for installation on conventional existing heads.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided improved details of structure, a preferred form of which is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a preforming head equipped with quills constructed in accordance with my invention; and

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the quill.

Figure 1 shows a body of a preforming head which can be used in a wire stranding machine of any standard .or desired construction. The body has a bore 12 through which a core component 0 travels. At the entry end of the head the outside of the body has a portion 13 of reduced diameter containing a keyway 14. This portion is adapted to be received in a suitable mounting for supporting and rotating the head. At the exit end the outside of the body has a frustoconical enlargement 15, the circumference of which contains a plurality (e. g. six) of lengthwise equally spaced undercut grooves 16.

These grooves taper toward the exit end of the head an each receives a quill 17, the outer faces of which converge toward the point of twist.

In accordance with my invention, each quill 17 is formed of an integral hard metal block, preferably of tool steel hardened to Rockwell C60-62. The underside of the quill has a tapered tongue 18 dimensioned to fit within one of the grooves 16 in the body 10. The upper face of the quill contains a system of smooth-faced angularly related grooves 19 for receiving a component s of the rope or strand. These grooves include an entry portion 19a along one edge of the quill, a first oblique portion 19b extending at an angle of approximately 45 from said entry portion across the face of the quill to the other side, a second oblique portion 19c extending at approximately a right angle from said first oblique portion back to the first side of the quill, and an exit portion 19d along the edge of the quill.

In operation, the components 0 can be inserted in the grooves 19 from outside the head without threading them through small passages nor removing any parts of the stranding machine. When the machine is operated to rotate the head and twist the components together, the latter are pulled through the grooves 19. This action induces a helical set in the components in accordance with known principles. The body 10 is of a standard form, and the quills 17 can be installed therein on removal of the other forming means. No special fasteners are needed to hold the quills in place on the body, but the tapered tongue and groove connection assures that they are held in place securely.

While I have shown and described only a single embodiment of my invention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A preforming head for a stranding machine comprising a tubular body and a plurality of quills fixed to the outer circumferential face thereof and converging as a group toward one end of said body, each of said quills being formed of a hard block shaped as a geometric solid which has spaced apart opposed inner and outer faces on its opposite sides, said inner face bearing against said body and said outer face being exposed throughout its area and containing a system of angularly related grooves defining a course of positive continuous sinuous outline when viewed in plan open throughout its length outwardly of the quill and confined to the outer face to receive a component for forming into a helix.

2. A preforming head as defined in claim 1 in which said body has a plurality of lengthwise grooves in its outer circumferential face and said quills have tongues on their inner faces received in the respective grooves for fixing the quills to the body.

3. A quill for a preforming head comprising a hard block shaped as a geometric solid which has spaced apart opposed inner and outer faces on its opposite sides, and attachment means on said inner face for fixing the quill to a body, said outer face being exposed throughout its area and containing a system of angularly related grooves defining a course of positive continuous sinuous outline when viewed in plan open throughout its length outwardly of the quill and confined to the outer face to receive a component for forming into a helix.

4. A quill for a preforming head comprising an integral Patented Oct. 29, 19 57,

hard steel block shaped as a geometric solid which has on said inner face is a longitudinally extending tongue spacedapart opposed inner and outer faces on its oppoadapted to be received in a complementary groove on a site sides, and an element of a tongue and groove joint body.

on its inner face for fixing the quill to a complementary element on a body, said outer face being exposed through- 5 References Cited in the file Of this Patent out its area and containing a system of angularly related UNITED STATES PATENTS grooves defining a course of positive continuous sinuous outline when viewed in plan open throughout its length 1,691,337 Conner Nov. 13, 1928 outwardly of the quill and confined to the outer face to 1,732,640 Conner Oct. 22, 1929 receiveaicomponent for-forminginto-a;helix. 10 1,773,038 Furth Aug. 12, 1930 5. A'quill as'defined-in claim 4 wherein the element 2,292,971 Rairden Aug. 11, 1942 

